Trump has made Obstruction Of Justice one of his favorite pastimes;New evidence of potential obstruction by Trump The president is reportedly pressuring his attorney general to take over the Russia investigation - and go after Hillary Clinton.

The Obstruction of Justice is on the same subject that the President constantly goes against his own advisers on, as protecting Russian interests seem to have a higher priority with Trump than anything American;White House warns about Russia then Trump says it’s a hoax!President Trump's top intelligence advisors warned that the threat of Russian interference in US elections is real and ongoing. Trump hasn't joined them-- calling the investigation a "hoax" hours after his advisors' spoke at the WH press briefing. Neera Tanden and Evan McMullin discuss what this means for the midterm elections.

Clearly Trump is acting like a Russian puppet (its probably that he expects to make money with Russia and plans to get away with any illegality through Obstruction Of Justice and other such misuse of Presidential powers, i.e. high crimes and misdemeanors);

It’s easy to forget, but the original line from Team Trump was that no one associated with the campaign had any communications with Russia during the country’s attack on our 2016 elections. We’ve come a long way since then.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the meeting between his son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer in June 2016 was “to get information on an opponent,” seemingly contradicting a statement from more than a year ago that the meeting focused on a Russian adoption program. […]

“This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere,” he tweeted, defending the meeting and appearing to refer to political opposition research done by campaigns.

The tough part is knowing where to start. Let’s first note that it’s not at all common for American presidential campaigns to welcome assistance from foreign adversaries. The president may choose to believe this is “done all the time,” but this isn’t even close to being true. (In the not-too-distant past, when foreign adversaries have offered to help presidential candidates, those candidates not only refused the offers; they also reported the outreach to the FBI. Trump did not.)

Second, the idea that conspiring with Russia to interfere in an American election is “totally legal” is a rather dubious proposition.

But even putting these details aside, let’s not miss the forest for the trees: Donald Trump admitted yesterday that top members of his campaign team sought assistance from Moscow during Russia’s attack, discrediting Trump World’s previous claims about the June 2016 meeting.

Indeed, last summer, Donald Trump Jr. issued a press statement about the meeting – a statement we later learned was dictated by the president personally – describing the 2016 discussion as being focused on Russian adoptions. Even at the time, the story seemed absurd, but that was the official line from Trump and his team.

What are Trump's interests? They appear to be money as he didn't dissolve his business as ethics monitors insisted was necessary (i.e. a constitutional violation the GOP are not doing anything about showing they don't care about the Constitutions which fits their history);

Trump comfort with foreign corruption hurts US global reputationSarah Chayes, author of "Thieves of State," talks with Richard Engel about how Donald Trump's tolerance of corruption in other countries reflects back on the reputation of the United States, and why Donald Trump is in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

Nepotism is also a big Trump Administration thing (i.e. not only is Trump using the Presidency to make money from foreigners but also helping his relatives make money);Jared Kushner’s finances examined in Russia probeAs Jared Kushner’s business dealings come under scrutiny, Joy Reid and her panel discuss whether the emoluments clause of the Constitution will be upheld by government authorities.

Lack of transparency means no one knows where the money is really going;

Throughout his brief political career, Donald Trump has struggled in a variety of areas, including transparency. Can we see his tax returns? No. Can we see the White House visitor logs? No. Can we see a Mar-a-Lago membership list? No.

Keep this in mind when reading about the president’s business “donating” its foreign profits.

The Trump Organization announced Monday that it donated the profits from “foreign government patronage” at its hotels last year to the U.S. Treasury, but declined to identify those foreign customers or the amount of the contribution.

President Trump’s company made the donation on Feb. 22, according to George A. Sorial, the Trump Organization’s chief compliance counsel.

“Although not a legal requirement, this voluntary donation fulfills our pledge to donate profits from foreign government patronage at our hotels and similar business during President Trump’s term in office,” Sorial said.

Let’s back up and review some of the relevant context. The Constitution doesn’t allow a president to receive money from foreign governments, but Trump’s hotels – which he continues to own and profit from – welcome foreign officials as guests. Indeed, it’s pretty common, despite concerns about corruption and emoluments....

And when the entire arrangement is shrouded in secrecy, the purported resolution raises more questions than it answers.

Emoluments clause of the Constitution, that all public office holders have taken an oath to uphold, seems to be violated daily;

Donald Trump’s first legal problem as president began literally on his first day. As regular readers may recall, the “Emoluments Clause” of the Constitution prevents U.S. officials from receiving payments from foreign governments, but Trump, who refused to divest from his private-sector enterprises, never stopped profiting from his businesses, some of which receive payments from foreign governments.

Before the president’s inauguration, Trump World vowed that his business would monitor receipts and make sure the president didn’t profit from foreign governments, though last summer, NBC News reported that the Trump Organization decided not to keep that promise, determining that it’d be too difficult.

Four foreign governments, 16 special interest groups and 35 Republican congressional campaign committees spent money at Trump properties in 2017, according to data compiled by the government watchdog group Public Citizen. […]

[I]n a report called “Presidency for Sale,” Public Citizen found that Trump properties in Washington, Florida and elsewhere seem to have benefited from Trump’s election as groups with something to gain from U.S. policy have paid to stay or dine there more than 60 times.

Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, added in reference to the findings, “There is no way to escape the conclusion that these events are being held at the Trump properties as a way to curry favor with the president.”

I imagine some of you are wondering right now about whether a federal court would consider all of this kosher. As it happens, we recently received an answer to that question.

A few days before Christmas, a federal judge dismissed a case testing Trump’s practices. The Washington Post reported:

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that President Trump violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause because his hotels and restaurants do business with foreign governments while he is in office.

The plaintiffs argued that because Trump properties rent out hotel rooms and meeting spaces to other governments, the president was violating a constitutional provision that bans the acceptance of foreign emoluments, or gifts from foreign powers.

But Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York ruled that the plaintiffs, led by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), lacked standing to bring such a case, saying it was up to Congress to prevent the president from accepting emoluments.

It’s that last part that stood out for me. The judge in the case didn’t say Trump’s practices are constitutionally permissible; he said it’s up to Congress to intervene.

Quotes

"Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it. It will turn to gold. Resurrection will be now. Every moment, a new beauty." - Rumi

"God is a metaphor for that which transcends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that." - Joseph Campbell

"Naturally, every age thinks that all ages before it were prejudiced, and today we think this more than ever and are just as wrong as all previous ages that thought so. How often have we not seen the truth condemned! It is sad but unfortunately true that man learns nothing from history." - Carl Jung

"Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society." - George Washington

“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” - Dalai Lama

“Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! Why do you stay in prison. When the door is so wide open?” ― Rumi